The Rain
by Yami's Aibou
Summary: The sequel to The River! If you haven't read that, read it first. Two months after 'The River Incident' as everyone calls it, Seto and Ryou are fast friends. Ryou is trying to get his two best friends to admit their feelings for each other. YAOI.
1. Strange Friendships

"Hello. This is Ryou." Ryou said after putting his phone to his ear.

"No duh it's you, hikari. It's YOUR cell phone." Bakura returned snidely.

"Bakura! You figured out how to use a phone without sending it to the shadow realm! I'm so proud!" Ryou squealed.

"Um, about that. I'm kind of at the Ishtar's, and I owe you a phone…" Bakura said. Ryou sighed. "But, anyways. Where are you?"

"I'm over at Seto's house." Ryou said. Bakura groaned.

"Again? You'd think he's going out with Kaiba, not me!" Bakura growled to someone next to him.

"Ooh! Bakura's jealous!" It was Marik.

"You know, I doubt he's dating Kaiba behind your back. You would know, anyways." Malik said to Bakura, always the voice of reason between those three, barely audible to Ryou through the phone

"Anyways, what's up?" Ryou asked. There was a moment of silence and the sounds of shuffling. Then Ryou could hear Bakura growling at Marik and Malik to leave him alone, teasing from the two, and then the sound of a door slamming shut. "…'Kura?"

"Sorry, yadonushi. I just…haven't seen you in a while." He responded gruffly. Ryou smiled.

"I'm sorry, my yami. I'm working on making Sero ask the Pharaoh out, and I think I'm almost through to him." On the other end, Bakura sighed in mild annoyance.

"I don't know why you insist on doing this. Kaiba's an asshole, and the Pharaoh deserves to die alone."  
"I know you don't believe either of those things. You've got a pretty good friendship with Yami now that you've gotten over the whole 'I must kill him' thing. And Seto's a good guy! I think they would be good for each other!"

"Who would be good with who?" Seto Kaiba questioned with a raised eyebrow, striding into the room. Ryou's eyes widened momentarily.

"Um, I gotta go Bakura. I'll see you tonight. Love you bye!" Ryou hung his phone up and turned to Kaiba. "Seto!" He said. Kaiba glanced at him from his desk, where he was setting up his laptop.

"You've been here for a half an hour and you act like you haven't seen me all day."

"Ask him out."

"No."

"Yes."  
"No!"  
"Meh! You suck."

"Says the boy who's at my house everyday."  
"Touché." That was the conversation they had each day. Amazingly enough, after the river incident, they became good friends and Ryou spent a lot of time at the mansion, either talking to/bothering Kaiba or hanging out with Mokuba. His other friends felt kind of left behind, but Ryou knew it was for the best. He was going to get Kaiba and Yami together. At that moment, Mokuba walked in.

"Nii-sama!" He said to his brother. "I want to throw a party!" Kaiba glared jokingly over at Ryou.

"It's all your idea, isn't it?" He asked. A coy smile spread across Ryou's face.

"I may have planted a seed or two."

"Pretty, pretty, pretty please Seto?" Mokuba pulled out his puppy dog eyes.

"No!" He glanced between Mokuba and Ryou, who had also pulled out his puppy dog eyes at full force. He felt his will waver, and sighed. "I can't resist the puppy dog eyes. Fine, Mokuba, you can throw a party. But please, please, PLEASE do NOT let it get as crazy as the last one. The tabloids were talking about it for weeks, and I really don't need the bad publicity." Ryou and Mokuba both snorted.

"Definitely not…whose idea was it to make me look like I had passed out in the midst of a bunch of bottles of alcohol again?" Mokuba asked with a chuckle. Ryou burst our laughing at the memory. Kaiba groaned.

"I can't believe how much shit we got in over that. I mean, I certainly can, but I have a million better things to do than meet with child protective services, therapists, social workers, and your idiot of a guidance counselor." Ryou finally had calmed down and was catching his breath.

"I have been wondering though, who did think of that?" Mokuba asked.

"That was Malik! It was SO FUNNY!" Ryou said with a huge smile. Kaiba growled.

"That BASTARD!" At his exclamation, Ryou burst into laughter again with Mokuba joining him. Seto chuckled softly and turned to his laptop, bringing up some reports on the latest duel disk prototype. Ryou flopped onto the couch near his desk, his laughter calming again. Mokuba walked out of the room still laughing to himself. Sprawling his body out on the couch, Ryou yawned and stretched. Rolling his eyes, Kaiba began editing the specs on the invention. After a few minute, Ryou sighed loudly and Kaiba ignored him. He sighed again, louder, and Seto looked up expectantly.

"'Kura talked to him last night." He said slowly. Seto snapped to attention. That wasn't what he had been expecting at all. The two of them looked at each other, Ryou with a childish, devious expression and Seto with a stunned, expecting glare. After a moment of eye contact, Ryou grinned. "You do like hiiiiim!" He teased. Seto groaned.

"I can't believe I fell for that!" Ryou sobered for a moment.

"I was serious. He did." Seto's faced read a quite obvious 'Oh SHIT.'

"…Why should I care?" He finally managed, turning briskly back to his reports.

"Because he likes you." Ryou fired back.

"Are we five? 'Ooooh, he likes me? Does he like me or does he _like_ like me?'" Seto fired back just as quickly, imitating an elementary school girl disturbingly well. Ryou chuckled, then responded.

"Bakura, Malik, Marik, and Yami went club hopping last night, that's why I stayed over at Yugi's house instead of coming over-"

"What a sweet reprieve it was."

"Oh shut it, smart ass. Anyways, they went clubbing and then split into pairs because Marik…well Marik got horny, you know him, and they left but Yami and Bakura weren't ready to cash in so they kept going. Three clubs later Yami was pretty drunk but Bakura was only mildly tipsy so he got the two of them home and sat up talking to Yami. Bakura said he asked him what he thought of you." Ryou paused thoughtfully.

"Well?" Kaiba asked expectantly, giving up all thoughts of being subtle.

"Here, 'Kura recorded it so you would believe him." Ryou pulled out a little digital recorder and tossed it to Kaiba, who hit play. Bakura's voice came through the tiny speakers.

"So, Pharaoh…what do you think about moneybags?" Yami's voice, somewhat slurred, responded.

"I like bags of money…" Bakura's throaty laugh was heard.

"I meant Seto Kaiba, idiot."

"Oh!" Yami giggled, somehow still sounding relatively regal and masculine. "I like him. A lot."

"You…like him? Like a friend?"

"Well…yeah. I mean, I kind of liked him before, especially after we found out about his role in Egypt. Then he saved me from that stupid river and that was awesome and I thought about it and you know I kind of might love him a little."

"Really?"

"Uh…oh look a squirrel!"

"What? Yami, where are you going?" There was a muffled thump, and the sound of footsteps running away.

"That's it." Ryou said. Seto blinked at the little machine, then huffed (although he would never admit it) and turned back to his work. "Seto?" Ryou implored tentatively. Seto sighed.

"I'll…think about it." He gave finally. Ryou squealed happily, jumped up, and tackled hugged his friend.

"You won't regret it!" He jumped up. "I'll let you do your whatever you're doing because 'Kura misses me and I have to tell him the good news! Yes! Bye Seto darling!" He pecked Seto on the cheek and dashed out the door. Once he was sure he was alone, Kaiba buried his head in his hands for a brief moment and growled.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

* * *

HERE IT IS. The anticipated as hell sequel to The River. It's been a long time coming, and I think I've finally pulled out of my FF slump (knock on wood!) Expect the next chapter relatively soon? (again, knock that wood. Hard.)

-Jamie


	2. Setting the Stage

"Aibou! There is a piece of mail addressed to the two of us from the Kaiba brothers! Would you mind if I opened it now, or shall I wait until we're both in the same room?" Yami called up the stairs to his hikari as he flipped idly through the mail on his way to the kitchen. Yugi slid down the banister and landed with a well-practiced thump on the floor.

"I'm here, so let's see it!" He chirped, sliding across the smooth kitchen floor to stand next to Yami.

"You are SO full of energy, aibou." Yami chuckled as he ripped the heavy cream envelope. There was a smooth piece of white paper with tastefully decorative print on it. It read:

_You're invited_

_A Masquerade of Epic Proportions to celebrate life_

_(Why not?)_

_Masks are a must! Dress code is anywhere between cocktail and black tie _

_(whatever you want)_

_RSVP not necessary_

_May 27__th_

_Begins at 9pm_

_No end time_

_See you there!_

_Mokuba Kaiba and Seto Kaiba_

_(Special thanks to Ryou Bakura)_

"Hm…sounds like Ryou and Mokuba ganged up on Kaiba again." Yami said with a dark chuckle, knowing full well the power of the puppy eyes. Yugi dashed to the calendar hanging on the wall nearby.

"25th…we're free! This sounds like it'll be awesome!"

"Perhaps…" Yami said noncommittally, keeping his eyes away from Yugi and moving to the refrigerator. An evil grin lit up Yugi's face.

"When are you going to ask him out?" He asked, faking nonchalance. Yami sputtered.

"What? I-you-I-what?" He blushed and angrily grabbed a yogurt from the refrigerator, then slammed it shut. "I do not know what you are talking about." He forced, grabbing a spoon and regally sitting at the table in the center of the room. Yugi pulled a chair out and sat across from him.

"Mou hitori no boku, I know. You don't have to pretend you don't like him."

"I _don't_," He insisted vehemently, "Kaiba is a pompous, arrogant, self-centered, bastard-"

"Who saved your life." Yugi interjected. Yami sighed as he opened the container in his hand. After gathering his thoughts for a minute, he spoke.

"I don't know why he did. It was incredibly out of character for him. And anyways, he doesn't like me. You've seen how he acts around me." He defeatedly began eating his yogurt. After a moment, Yugi brightly said,

"I happen to have it from reliable sources that he does." He paused, that excitedly said, "Well this is perfect! It's a masquerade!" Yami waited for him to elaborate, but when he didn't, he gestured with his spoon for Yugi to continue. "Oh, well, you see, you can flirt with him and find out if he's interested in you but he won't _know_ it's you because you'll be hidden behind a mask!" Yami gave him an intense _look_. "What?"

"Have you LOOKED at my hair? Even with a mask, it'll be obvious who I am!" The resulting smile on Yugi's face chilled Yami to the core.

"Between Anzu and I, I'm sure you'll be completely unrecognizable!" With that, he dashed out of the room, grabbing the cordless phone on his way out. Yami's eyes widened slightly from fear, but he shrugged and finished his yogurt. He sorted through the rest of the mail for a few minutes when there was a knock on the backdoor.

"Come in!" Yami called. Malik Ishtar came strutting in.

"Hey Pharaoh, I'm looking for Marik, have you seen him?" He asked as he poked around the counters in the Mutou home. Yami rolled his eyes.

"I saw him over an hour ago when we were consoling Bakura over his hikari spending time with the priest. When Ryou came to pick Bakura up, we all went our separate ways." Yami explained. Malik took an apple out of their fruit bowl and took a bite. After chewing thoughtfully, he swallowed and responded.

"I haven't seen him since…Thursday?" He paused. "Yes. Thursday." Yami's jaw dropped.

"How? You…it's been…it's TUESDAY! How do you lose track of your yami for that long? How are you so calm? I would be stark raving mad if I didn't know where Yugi was for almost a week!" Yami ranted. Malik chuckled.

"Silly Pharaoh! You know our bond is different than yours. We aren't two halves, remember? He's a bit of a parasite, really. And anyways, I have a GPS tracker in his phone so I can check up on him, but it disappeared." Yami laughed at that.

"Right, Bakura banished it as well as his own cell phone to the shadow realm when he got frustrated. We decided the electronics weren't worth the trip." Malik laughed as well. Malik sat in the seat recently vacated by Yugi. The two sat in silence, Malik with his apple and Yami with a catalog that had come in the mail, until Malik noticed the invitation.

"You going?" He asked suddenly. Yami looked up.

"Hm?"

"The 'masquerade'" Malik said, adding an air quote with his free hand.

"Aibou…well frankly aibou is scaring the everloving shit out of me. But he's very insistent that I go. And that I talk to Kaiba." The last part was muttered, but Malik heard it.

"Finally going to make your move?" Yami threw up his hands.

"Am I honestly that easy to read? I was a _pharaoh_; you aren't supposed to be able to read your _pharaoh_ like a book!" Malik just laughed at his plight.

"Let me make a deal with you." Malik suggested.

"Let's hear it." Malik leaned in conspiratorially.

"If you promise to make a move toward Kaiba, I will make sure Yugi can't pull off whatever terrifying plans he's cooking up for you." Yami only thought for a moment, knowing which was the lesser evil. He held out his hand.

"Deal." They shook on it, then Malik traipsed over to the landline and picked it up.

"Hello? Yes, Yugi, Anzu, it's Malik. We need to talk about your plans for the Pharaoh, because I don't know if I agree with you on whatever you're planning."

* * *

Chapter 2! Hopefully I can resolve everything next chapter! The next chapter will probably be longer, which is why the update is planned for May 27th, instead of the 25th. I hope you're enjoying this! I'm enjoying writing it. However I would really appreciate if you took the time to review, because a lot of people hassled me to write this and I'd like to know what you all think!

Thanks, Jamie

PS If you didn't know, I don't own Yugioh or the characters. Just my interpretations of them. FYI.


End file.
